


Fallout!Stuck

by 2punk2beDave



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Homestuck
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-23
Updated: 2014-08-04
Packaged: 2018-02-10 03:58:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2010120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/2punk2beDave/pseuds/2punk2beDave
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jake emerges from the ruins on his pacific island after surviving the nuclear war of 2077, also called 'The Great War.' He finds himself cut off from friends and family and believes to be the only survivor of the atom bombs. An idea emerges that maybe, just maybe Dirk survived and he leaves his island to cross a jet black ocean and make his way to Texas where he meets the Beta kids.</p>
<p>This is an audacious project that will eventually include all of the Beta and Alpha trolls, as well as all of the Alpha kids and eventually The Brotherhood of Steel and the mutant hunting Enclave who strives to wipe the wasteland clean of mutants.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I should probably warn beforehand that this is my first time writing a fanfic and will probably start off rather terribly as I manage to screw up personalities. Some I did alter for the purpose of the setting. Jake isn't as eccentric due to the horrors of a nuclear holocaust, and Rose survival left her much more serious. 
> 
> Ships and relationships might happen...

“This is utter bullocks,” Jake grumbled to himself as he examined the damaged pistol in his hand. He stood alone in the center of a crumbling building that seemed more vines and rotting plants than it did cement. “Three years of use. I cleaned you every ruddy day and now you up and give out on me,” He mumbled and dropped to the ground with a loud thump. Around him lay several men and women dressed in seemingly tribal clothing and war paint. Each had several bullet holes in their torsos and one through the forehead. Makeshift weapons lay scattered on the ground amongst the bullet casings and spatters of blood and brain matter.

Jake had been exploring the ruins of one of the many single story grocery stores that dotted the massive city he was stuck in. Ever since the nations of the world had enough of one another and lobbed every nuclear device they had on them at one another, the world was an utter wasteland. As far as Jake knew he was the only one of his friends and family that survived since he was on a remote island by himself when the first wave of bombs dropped. The island was far enough away for him to get to one of the many ruins that tunneled the island and dove far underground and waited out the fallout to pass. He had stashed years of food supplies in the ruins as he planned to turn them into a sort of home. Who knew they would double as a bomb shelter. For three years he lived in the ruins exploring every inch he could possibly uncover. Most of the radiation was in full effect above ground and he dared not leave the underground shelter. That is until his food supplies ran dry.

What Jake had found when he exited the ruins was an island rotted to the core. The plant life was completely decimated and the ground was reduced to dry, hard dirt that cracked every few feet. The entrance to the ruins was reduced to dust leaving a large hole in the ground that lead for miles on end. The first thing Jake did was quickly pull out one of his tablet computers used to keep track of areas he discovered in the ruins and checked his PesterChum. With no connection to the internet he had no idea if any of his friends had made it through the blast.

Jake dropped to his knees as panic swelled up in his throat. Tears poured down his dirty cheeks as he looked out in the wasteland and let the nearly overwhelming heat sink into him. He couldn't tell if the fallout from the blasts was affecting him but as far as he could tell he was fine as far as radiation poisoning goes. For almost an hour Jake sat on the dry earth crying. His world was destroyed and everyone close to him was possibly dead.

Suddenly a thought had hit him like a baseball bat to the skull: Strider. If anyone would have been able to survive this blast it would have been Dirk since he lived in a large high-rise apartment set off of the cost of Texas. High-rises seem like the worst place to be when a nuke goes off, but considering the money spent on the project there would be series of basements and foundations to keep the building stable in the ever changing ocean. It was then and there Jake decided to get to Texas as fast as he could. He found a boat had survived the destruction of the island by being stowed away in a small cove. Jake loaded up as much water, what little food could be scrounged up, both of his pistols and a plentiful amount of ammunition.

It took months to make his way across the oceans and end up in what he believed were the states. Most of it was as dead as his island, save for a few towering buildings, a dead shrubbery, and a collection of leafless trees. Jake judged he was somewhere on the coast of California since his island was in the pacific. It took several more months to trek across the wasteland to get to what was left of Texas. From what he saw in pictures and satellite images the nuclear waste didn't really change the land scape of the place. Jake scrounged for food at ruined towns and gas stations on his way towards the other side of the large state and kept his head down.

As far as he could tell, radiation was not something he had to worry about. Nothing seemed to change about his body, save the cleanness of it and the occasional scar he gained from battling with tribes of irritated, near skinless humans he took to calling Ghouls from an old game he used to play. So far every Ghoul was a feral beast just after something to eat. A single bullet would kill one however they always attack in monstrous numbers that very nearly expended Jake's ammunition supply. However when he made it to Texas ammunition and additional weapons weren't hard to come by.

Now he sat in what he believed was the capital of Texas, or at least one of the larger cities. It was either Houston or Austin. Either way it was devoid of human life until Jake stepped into the grocery store. He was greeted with several painted bodies that turned to look at him at once. They wore bits of tire and metal scrap as armor and various color paint splattered both skin and material alike.

“Fresh meat!” one of the survivors called. And with that, they attacked at once.

Jake had quickly pulled his twin pistols from the holsters on his sides and fired into the group. None of the savage survivors had a firearm on them, but carried a variety of clubs, knives, machetes, and other melee weapons. Five charged Jake at once and were swiftly taken down by a short blast of bullets sending their bodies into heaps on the ground and pooling their blood on the thirsty cement.

“He's going to be a tough one! Let ’em have it guys and gals!” one cried out standing on top of one of the aisles. Fifteen or so savages came running from the back of the store with weapons in hand. Each had the look of blood lust on their face and they charged at once.

Jake mumbled a quick, “Bloody hell,” and stepped into the fray firing his pistols in rapid succession. Not a single shot missed his mark. After three of the fifteen assailants collapsed, Jake ejected the mags from his weapons and loaded in fresh ones. He squeezed the trigger gracefully, shifting his aim from target to target and putting three rounds each. Several savages collapsed with a thud and Jake reloaded again. By now the remaining savages had reached him. One brought a tire iron down and slammed it hard into the ground that Jake had been standing in.

“That was far too close for my own comfort chap!” Jake shouted and shoved the barrel of the pistol into the savage’s temple and squeezed. The gun popped loudly and sprayed blood and bits of skull onto the ground. Jake turned to his left in time to see another savage raise a machete over his head as he swung it down, Jake slammed one pistol into its holster, grabbed the savages wrist with his free hand and pressed his pistol into his gut. Jake fired the gun twice and shoved the dead savage to the ground. Only two remained and they slowly stepped toward Jake cautiously. Jake sighed and adjusted his broken glasses into place, raised the pistol and fired twice killing the last two of the savages.

As Jake stepped over the corpses and put two more rounds into their heads, to make sure they were dead, his pistol broke. There was a loud click then a quick crack. The slide of the weapon split and cracked as the round jammed on the pin. What looked like a simple weapon jam turned out to be a complete failure.

Clattering of bullet casings brought Jake to full attention and he quickly hopped to his feet, unholstered his other pistol and spun. He turned to see a man looking his age wresting a katana to his throat. The man had wavy blonde hair that swept over cracked and smudged sunglasses. His shirt was tattered and dirty white with a disk in the center. Jake managed to take a step forward and press the barrel of his pistol into the cheek of the stranger who stood calm, and collected.

“What do you want?” The stranger asked, his voice showing no hint of panic or worry. “You made quick work of those cannibals so I can't say you're one of them. Who are you?”

Jake cracked a smile, but kept a tight grip on the weapon in his hand. “I’m Jake. Jake English. Might I ask, what is your name chap?”

“Dave. Dave Strider,” the stranger, Dave said coolly.

Jake's eyes widened and slowly he took a step back and dropped the pistol to his side. “Strider? Are you perhaps related to a Dirk Strider? Builds robots, boasts a lot, listens to rap?”

Dave sat silent for a moment before he lowered his katana and sheathed it. “No. I don't know a Dirk. Know what he looks like?”

Jake shook his head and sighed, “I don't know what the bugger looks like. All I know is he lives in some high-rises off of the coast of Texas, which is here I assume?”

“Yeah this is Texas. I live in one of the high-rises near here,” Dave answered and took a few steps back away from Jake. “I’m heading to the coast to try and get to those apartments. I picked up a distress signal from there on an emergency radio. I heard its Ghoul-free over that way.”

“Mind if I tag along?” Jake asked sliding the pistol in his holster and holding his hand out. Dave stared at the outstretched hand for a moment and shrugged.

“As long as you can pull your weight while we get there then fine. If not then you can stay and be a can of fresh cannibal soup for all I care.”

Jake nodded silently in response and followed Dave as he left the crumbling store. No point in looking for food in it – the savages already took it all for themselves. For hours the two ducked in and out of alleyways and buildings trying to avoid hordes of skinless Ghouls. As they maneuvered their way down the roads, Jake noticed several things about Dave. His clothing was stained with blood and grime as if it hasn't been removed or washed in months. It was mostly in tatters with several large rips. The same went for his pants: more blood and more grime. His skin was pale as snow but covered in many large red scars that flared menacingly in the sunlight. Finally after a few silent hours Jake broke the silence. “So how long have you been out here?” he asked in a low voice.

“Longer than the fuckin' sun,” Dave mumbled back, his attention fully focused on a group of Ghouls.

Jake scoffed in response and slowly knelt down next to Dave. “No seriously, how long have you been in this blasted city?”

“All my life. I told you I lived in one of the apartment complex's here. Is the radiation rotting that brain of yours Mr.Sherlock?”

Jake sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “How long have you been surviving?”

“Better question, English. Three years. The bombs fell outside of Houston when I was sixteen and I quickly scrambled to the basement,” Dave responded slowly. “Don't look now English, but I think we've been made.”

Dave tensed up and quickly unsheathed his katana. Jake stood up and looked where Dave had been focusing. A large crowd of Ghouls had turned and faced the two and locked eyes with them. Each of the feral monsters remained still hardly even breathing as they stared Jake and Dave down. Finally one somewhere in the center of the mass cried out. The Ghouls charged shrieking and hissing loudly toward the ally way.

“Bullocks!” Jake shouted and retrieved the pistol from his side. Before he could steady his Dave grabbed his collar and yanked him backwards. “Run you idiot!” he shouted as his foots pounded against the pavement.

“We can take them!” Jake shouted as he gave chase.

“Really?” Dave shouted over his elbow. “How many did you see?”

“About ten or so!” Jake shouted back.

“Well you're blind then ’cause there's far more than ten and unless you have a hacked gun out of a fucking video game I suggest you book it!” Dave shouted, and seemed to run even faster.

Jake struggled to keep up and his breathing slowly became ragged. The heat was sapping his breath with each step. As he bolted down the alleyway, something caught his foot and sent Jake tumbling to the ground with a loud grunt. Panic shot through his body and he rolled over. Jake was faced with an uncountable number of Ghouls rushing toward him. Jake let out a cry and raised his pistol. He fired blindly into the massive wall of flesh, killing two or three Ghouls with a single bullet.

Jake slowly crawled backwards as he fired hoping to stay the tide of feral flesh but it kept advancing.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Jake shouted and kept shooting until his pistol clicked empty. Jake reached around and grabbed one of the last magazines that he kept in his pouch strapped to his thigh. He slammed the magazine in and opened fire again killing more Ghouls. Just as he was about to spend his last bullet a flash cut through the monsters right in front of Jake. The heads of the Ghouls rolled into Jake's lap. He looked up to see Dave moving ahead of him, his sword weaving its way through the soft flesh of the Ghouls. Jake quickly stood and slammed his pistol into his holster and grabbed a Ghouls arm as it tried to strike him. Jake quickly slammed an open palm strike into the nose cavity of the Ghoul and groaned in disgust as he felt his hand plunge deep into the skull of the monster. He shoved the body away in time to duck under another Ghouls attack. Jake delivered a kick into the back of the Ghouls knee and smirked to himself as he felt the bone give away and break easily. He finished the Ghoul off with a quick kick to the skull which splattered bits of Ghoul all over Jake's tattered vest and shirt.

“English, you better help me!” Dave shouted as he backed into a wall to the left of Jake. Dave's blade still cut elegantly through the Ghouls, however numbers were against him. Jake looked around quickly for some way to draw the Ghouls attention when he spotted a metal trashcan overturned on its side. He quickly hefted up the can and with some effort hurled it at the crowd surrounding Dave. The metal can knocked over several of the Ghouls and crushed them under its weight. Ghouls were very fragile.

Dave took the opening and bolted past Jake, who turned and quickly followed. They ran for several minutes until coming up on what seemed to be a dead end, but without stopping Dave seemed to almost run right up the cement wall as he jumped up and grabbed the top. He hefted himself up and lowered a hand to help up Jake who managed to clamber up just as the wall of Ghouls smashed into the wall.

“What happened out there!” Dave shouted in between pants. “You nearly got me killed!”

“I fell!” Jake protested. “Something came up out of the ground and seemed to grab my leg! I turned to shoot but I ran out of ammunition fast!”

“Yeah no shit!” Dave shouted again, then fell onto his butt. “Good thing I came back from there, you would have been Ghoul food.” Dave huffed.

“Come on. It’s almost night time. Some scary things come out when the moon is up. Luckily I got a place for us to crash...and some friends for you to meet.” Dave smiled weakly. “Besides you could use a washing. You stink.”

In a half an hour the two walked up to what seemed to be an old bar. The place was in shambles, but boarded off. There were large spikes nailed into the walls and the ground around it forming a wall around the entrance. Several Ghouls and even a savage were impaled on the spikes.

“Welcome to the mother fuckin' home base.” Dave sighed and pushed his way through the door.

“Hold it!” A woman's voice called out. “Name!”

“Strider,” Dave said coolly and smiled. A woman stepped out of cover with a hunting rifle in her hands. Her hair was dark black and cut short. She wore circular rimmed glasses and had a bit of an overbite. She looked to be about the same age as Dave and Jake.

“Hey Jade.” Dave smiled slightly and sat down on one of the old bar stools. “Jade, this is Jake. Jake this is Jade.”

Jake looked at the woman with a sense of bewilderment. She looked like she could be Jake's sister. She was roughly the same size as Jake and wore tight shorts that cut off just before the knee. She had an old military assault vest slung loosely around her chest which covered up most of her tattered shirt. There were several cuts on her arms that had been bandaged tightly.

“Hello ma'am,” Jake managed to fumble the words out of his mouth. He stuck a hand out and got a very excited handshake in return.

“Hello to you too, sir!” Jade replied happily. “It’s nice to meet you Jake. I’m so very happy to meet you! It’s good to have a new member join us!” She said, then quickly turned to face the back of the bar. “Hey guys! We have someone new!”

Two more people came rushing from a room that was behind Jade. One was another woman about the same age as everyone else. She had short blonde hair that was cut in a bob cut. There was a tattered purple hairband in her hair that matched the color of her eyes. Her expression was very serious and almost scary. “Hello.” She said, and gave a small wave. “My name is Rose. Rose Lalonde.”

Jake raised a hand and waved back. “Jake. Jake English.” He replied. Jake noted that like the others Rose was wearing very tattered clothing. She wore a black and purple lace skirt that stopped around the middle of her thighs. A scarf was wrapped around her waist like a belt and tucked away in the scarf were two long, and very sharp looking needles. Her shirt was cut up and dirty just like all the others.

The other person, a boy that looked eerily similar to both Jake and Jade rushed forward and grabbed Jakes hand. “Nice to meet you!” He said happily and introduced himself. “My name is John. John Egbert.”

“Nice to meet you, John. I’m Jake, Jake English,” Jake replied. He gave John a good look over. John had a mop of messy black hair and wide, square-rimmed glasses like Jake’s. His shirt was a faded blue and seemed to be in better condition than the others. His pants were just basic jeans, but strapped to his back with a makeshift strap was a large sledgehammer that seemed to be painted several eccentric colors.

“These are my friends,” Dave said. “Coincidentally, they came here looking for me. Rose is from New York and John is from DC. Rose picked up John on the way here.”

Jake nodded slowly and his mind shifted to the thought of his friends. Surely someone must have made it out alive. His best bet was to find his Strider. Find Dirk and he may be able to find the others.

“In a few days when we replenish our supplies we're going to head for the coast, towards the apartment buildings you're heading to, also, English. You're welcome to tag along,” Dave explained. “However, on this trip, you have to find your own supplies. We hardly have enough between the four of us as it is.”

“Understandable,” Jake mumbled. He hoped Dirk was still alive. He hoped his other friends were alive as well.

“When do we leave?” Jake asked. “And even though you just said for me to scavenge for myself do you have any 9mm ammunition? I’ve run my stock dry,” He said sheepishly.

“Yeah!” John smiled. “Only Jade uses guns but we stockpiled it just in case this bar comes under siege.”

“And to answer your question, English,” Dave interrupted. “We leave tomorrow.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Beta kids and Jake make their way towards the coast, and encounter a very cranky mutated human with little nubby horns.

The day was hotter than it usually is, and most of the group Jake was traveling had stripped down most of their clothing. No one really seemed to care about modesty as they marched the empty highway in nothing but their underwear. The kids moved in a spread formation that Dave seemed to call “Beta.” Jade stayed ahead of everyone scouting ahead and using a mirror to reflect back Morse code. Dave stood in front of the rest of the group; Rose was behind him, then Jake, then John. It seemed like for days they marched without a single word to one another and kept moving. They'd pass through towns, some over run with Ghouls and some controlled by tribes or factions of people. Some were very hostile and attempted to kill the kids on sight, even threatening to eat them alive once they were done. Some were friendlier, trading supplies and munitions if they had the extra.

“We're almost to the coast,” Dave called out without turning to the rest. There was an audible sigh of relief and the pace seemed to pick up a bit. Jake tightened the shirt he had wrapped around his head and smiled. The closer they began to make it to the coast, the more the kids started talking. John asked Jake all about his life and of recent events. Jake answered happily and talked about how he narrowly survived being afloat in an ocean that was mostly dead.

“The waters were as black as onyx,” Jake laughed. “I could see my own blasted reflection in the water it was so black.”

“Were there any fish?” Rose asked, a curious look on her face.

“If there were any fish, they would have mutated into some sort of horror-terrors,” John laughed.

Jake explained the Ghouls to the best of his knowledge. How even though they appeared undead, they were actually still living. The radiation had mutated them in ways that warped their minds into that of a feral beast.

“They're not zombies?” John had asked. A look of disappointment took about his face.

“No. They're still alive. Just mutated into those beasts,” Jake replied as they walked.

Suddenly, Dave came to a full stop causing Rose to walk straight into him.

“Look.” He pointed. Jade’s mirror was flashing frantically in the distance. “H.” Dave said, “E. L. P. Help. Guys we need to move. Now!” Dave shouted and then took off down the road. The others followed without any hesitation and after a second Jake followed as well. Before they were even halfway down the road, they spotted a gas station on the right side. Gun shots popped in the distance and Dave ran harder.

It took several minutes to catch up to Jade and the situation they happened upon was bad. Several destroyed cars littered the road, providing cover to some tribe members who were firing into the gas station with large automatic weapons. Jade was pinned inside, her bolt action rifle unable to keep up with the amount of fire the tribesmen were putting down.

“Fuck mother.” Dave cursed and pulled his sword from its sheath with a loud “schwing.” He pounded down the road and let out a loud roar that elicited attention from all of the tribesmen, who turned their guns and faced Dave.

“God damn it, Strider!” Jake shouted and un-holstered his firearm. He held an arm out in front of him parallel to his chest and rested his other arm on it. Jake lowered himself into a crouch and took a deep breath, adjusted his aim, and fired. The bullet zinged in the air and past Dave's ear. It buried itself in the unprotected chest of a tribesman and knocked him to the ground. Before Jake could fire off a second shot John and Rose took off down the road with their weapons at the ready.

Jake watched as Dave slammed a foot into the rusted body of a car and leapt over it. He twisted the sword mid air and brought the point down through the skull of a tribesmen gunner and used his body to break his fall. Dave pulled the sword from the dead tribesmen and turned to face another who shouldered his rifle and was smiling wickedly. A single bang rang from the gas station and the tribesman’s head exploded. Jade always hit her mark. Dave twisted and watched as Rose rammed her two needles into the neck of a gunner and wrenched open his jugular causing blood to spray into the air. She carelessly dropped the body to the side, raised a needle back and threw it into a charging attacker. The weapon lodged itself between the eyes of the tribesmen and left him twitching on the asphalt.

Dave looked to his left and watched proudly as John followed suite and leapt off of one of the cars bringing the head of the bright sledgehammer down into the skull of the last gunner smashing it into a bloody pulp against the frying ground. The group stood panting together as Jake and Jade approached them. Jade quickly hugged everyone and laughed.

“Thank you guys for hurrying. I don't think I would have made it much longer under that hellfire.” She laughed, covering her mouth with a hand.

“Its no problem,” Dave smirked. “But one question: how did you manage to reflect the mirror like that?”

“There was a hole in the gas station wall,” Jade explained sticking a thumb over her shoulder.

The group shrugged and took a silent moment to clean off their weapons. “That was a nice shot you pulled off there, Mr.English,” Jade complimented with a large smile. “Almost rival to my own sharpshooting.”

Jake blushed and smiled sheepishly. “Been around fire arms all my life. My gran taught me how to shoot when I was a small child,” he replied.

“Time to go,” Dave interrupted yet again as he slammed his blade back into the sheath at his waist. The group nodded and began walking with Dave down the road.

For hours they walked in an unchanging environment. The road was hot and seemed to radiate in waves over the group. Sweat clung to Jake's brow and dripped down to his cheek and eventually off of his body. Jake tried his hardest to keep his mouth shut and avoid whining, but eventually the heat got the best of him and his mouth slipped up.

“How much longer?” Jake huffed.

“Half hour,” Dave replied nonchalantly and kept walking.

An hour passed ’till Jake finally spoke up again. “Are we there yet?”

“Half hour,” Dave replied again without facing Jake.

“You sure? You said that an hour ago.” Jake squinted and wiped away the sweat from his brow.

“Yeah. Half hour,” Dave answered.

Jake scoffed and kept walking. The environment remained the same. The road stretched endlessly with a hot, beating desert on either side. Soon the sun began to set and the group stopped on the side of the road. Scraps of wood were pulled from the dirt and a fire was lit. Each kid sat around the fire and stretched out their legs with loud huffs and sighs of relief.

“Oh my aching feet,” Jake said aloud and his head rolled back on his shoulder and he looked up at the night sky. “Are we close?” He asked Dave.

Dave looked at Jake with a straight face. “Hey,” He said. “Do you want me to turn this car around?”

“What?” Jake looked at Dave confused.

“I swear to god I will turn this car around I don't care how close we are to Disney land,” Dave mocked.

Jake's mouth twisted into a scowl. “You're an idiot,” He said simply.

“And you're British,” Dave smirked and leaned back on his shoulders. He kicked crossed his leg and kicked them side to side.

“What does that have to do with anything?” Jake asked, his voice sounding rather annoyed.

“Actually now that I think about it you're not as up and uh...how do I say it? Overly happy?” Dave said.

“Yeah, surviving a nuclear apocalypse seems to take the cheer out of anyone’s party,” Jake uttered.

Dave shrugged silently and stared up into the sky. Ever since the bombs were dropped there was a thin haze that covered the sky. It distorted the look of the stars but wasn't thick enough to stop the sun’s penetrating heat.

Several minutes of silence passed and Jake soon realized that everyone had fallen asleep. It seemed they silently volunteered him to keep watch over the campsite for a while. Jake stood up slowly and pulled his pistol from its holster. He pulled the slide back with a satisfying click, chambered a round, and began to walk slowly around the campsite. Jake passed himself ten meters away from the kids and patrolled around them in an even circular motion.

For several long, uneventful hours Jake walked around the campsite, only stopping for short breaks. It was almost four in the morning when the sound of footsteps in the dirt snapped Jake to attention. He sat up quickly from one of his breaks and whirled around. Aiming his gun into the darkness Jake let out a harsh whisper.

“Who's there?”

“Your god fuckface,” a harsher, angrier voice whispered back.

Jake felt cold steel wrap around his neck and he tensed up. He cursed silently to himself and slowly lifted up his arms. Jake let his pistol fall to the ground with a loud clatter and huffed.

“You caught me, you jabbering fuck.” Jake growled.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” the voice behind Jake sneered into his ear.

“Resting,” Jake stated. “That's all.”

“For some reason I don't well fucking believe you. You're coming with me, and so help me God if you even so much as kick a pebble to your friends I will slit your throat wide fucking open,” the harsh whisper threatened.

“Oh?” Jake smirked in the darkness. In half a second he slammed the back of his head into the person behind him. Feeling where his captor was, Jake smashed his boot backward into what he had hoped was its knee. Jake tensed as he felt his boot collide with the shin of his captor; however, it produced the result he was hoping for. His captor stumbled forward and Jake quickly grabbed their wrist and yanked forward, tucked his chest down, and flipped the attacker over him, then slammed them into the hard ground with a loud thud.

“What the fuck...,” the voice wheezed painfully.

Jake kicked his captor’s weapon away from him and stood over the figure. He dropped a knee hard into their chest and pressed the pistol into the flesh of their neck.

“Slick plan. It’s a shame it’s stopped working,” Jake murmured into the figure’s ear. He quickly sat up and turned to where the group was sleeping.

“We got an intruder!” He shouted. Almost instantaneously Dave jumped up with his blade drawn.

“Where!” He shouted and looked around frantically.

“Must be hard to see at night in those shades huh?” Jake yelled to Dave. “Over here! He's already pacified.”

Dave relaxed slightly and grabbed one of the glowing sticks out of the fire. He strolled over to Jake and held the stick over the two, casting a soft glow on them.  
“What the fuck.” Dave cursed.

Jake looked from Dave down to his prisoner in wonder. The captive had messy black hair with two nubby, candy corn colored horns poking out. He had gray skin and black lips, his eyes were orange with black pupils. His clothing was brand new however. He wore a black turtle neck sweater despite the heat. On the chest of the sweater painted in a light gray was the zodiac sign of Cancer.

“Oh stop gawking at me its not like you're any prettier,” the captive spat at Dave.

“What's your name?” Jake demanded. He pulled the hammer back on his pistol and pressed it into the captive’s skin.

“My name is Karkat. Karkat fucking Vantas,” Karkat growled.

Jake looked at Karkat slightly confused then turned to Dave.

“He turned that information over easily,” Dave shrugged.

“Are you part of a tribe? Pardon my questioning but what's with the get up?” Rose asked, her voice stretching into a yawn.

“When did you get here?” Jake questioned. “I didn't even hear you approach.”

“Is he a Ghoul?” John asked as he plopped down next to Karkat and Jake.

“No you dimwitted fuck. I’m a troll. A mutant,” Karkat barked.

“You don't look any younger than us. What happened?” Jaked asked.

“When the bombs initially hit the radiation did some thing that fucked with our DNA for fuck all. This is the result,” Karkat said sarcastically. “Now. Im done indulging you, I need to return to my group. Let me go you pink fucking wigglers.”

Dave laughed for a moment and looked down at Karkat. He took his sheathed sword and poked Karkat in the middle of his forehead. “Sorry buddy. You're not going anywhere. John, go get something we can tie this, 'Troll' up with.” Dave ordered. John nodded sleepily and stood up. He marched off to the campsite and returned several minutes later with a small length of frayed rope.

“This is all we have,” John mumbled sleepily and rubbed one of his eyes. Dave took the rope from John and knelt down beside Jake and Karkat. He grabbed Karkat by the wrists and tied them together tightly without resistance.

“Smart move, Troll boy,” Dave sighed. “Jake, get him up and drag his sorry ass back to camp. I'm going back to bed.”

Jake nodded slowly and sat up off of Karkat and grabbed him by the collar. With a quick yank he pulled Karkat up off of the ground and unto his feet. Jake pushed Karkat ahead of him and pointed his pistol at his back.

“Walk,” Jake said simply.

Karkat nodded silently and marched to the campsite. He plopped down between Jake and Dave and laid on the ground.

“No use in trying to escape or argue with you knob-gobblers,” Karkat sighed. “There's no hope of me getting out of here huh?”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introduction of Sollux and Gamzee

“Hey bro.” Gamzee murmured. 

“What.” Sollux replied as he tried and failed at wiping away the grime from one of his pistols. “What do you want right now?” He asked, his voice lisping every now and again.

“What are we mother fuckin' doin' here bro?” Gamzee questioned Sollux, looking at him with a very blank stare. “Like....is this where crab apple was last mother fuckin' seen before vanishing?”

“Yeah you stoned clown. Vriska said he was going to go search the hospital down the road for supplies.” Sollux explained, sounding rather frustrated. “Vriska told us to come check this place out.” 

“Oooh bro that's easy.” Gamzee smiled sheepishly. Slowly he stood from the spot that he was sitting and took a step towards the rotting door of the psychiatric wing of the ruined hospital. With one of his reinforced juggling pins Gamzee slowly edged the door open and poked his head through. “Hey!” He shouted into the darkness of the hall. “Ooooh Bestfriend!” Gamzee shouted louder. He took in a breath to shout again but Sollux slapped a hand across his mouth. 

“Gamzee you fucking idiot who knows what is lurking down that hallway!” Sollux whispered harshly into Gamzee's ear. 

“But how is he supposed to mother fuckin' know we're here?” Gamzee looked at Sollux with a confused face. “Brotha could be lost up in that place man.”

Sollux took a deep breath and held it for a moment. He exhaled sharply and pinched the bridge of his nose over his red and blue lens glasses. “Gamzee, is there lead in that clown make up?”

Gamzee sat in silence for a moment with a look of awe on his face. “Why would you ask that man?” He questioned sounding rather concerned.

“Whatever,” Sollux replied, “Lets just go.”

 

The two slowly crept down the entrance hallway of the psychiatric ward. Bits of tile on the floor were cracked and covered in filth. Vines and other flora hung from holes in the ceiling that let in little rays of moonlight that showed the abandoned wheelchairs and beds that sat eerily silent in the hall. Gamzee and Sollux's steps seemed to echo into oblivion with each step they took until they reached what looked to be the lobby of the ward. 

The lobby like room was about the size of a standard apartment. A large L shaped desk sat up against the far wall and had several ruined computers lined up. Chairs, benches, more wheelchairs, and files were scattered on the destroyed floor. A single light flickered suspiciously in the center of the room casting a faint glow over the L desk and revealing two entrances to branching hallways on both the right and the left walls of the room.

“That light shouldn't be on.” Sollux observed. Slowly he stood up from his crouched position and scanned the room. “No one is in here though...”

 

Gamzee slowly stood up as well clearing well over a foot over Sollux's stature of 5'4. “Brotha somethin's up in this place.” he murmured slowly. 

Sollux nodded in agreement and reached behind his back. In a faint click he pulled two custom colt.45 pistols. One had a red body, and the other blue with ivory like grips. There was a crack in one of the halls and Sollux spun with both pistols aimed. There was a flicker of movement in the doorway and a pair of crimson eyes lit up in the blackness of the hall.

“Gamz.” Sollux whispered.

“Yeah man?” Gamzee replied, turning and seeing what Sollux saw. “What is that thing?”

 

Slowly from the shadows the owner of the crimson eyes slithered forward. It was large, about eight feet tall. The creature had a serpent like head atop a worm like body. About midway down two mutilated arms looking monstrously similar to scythes tensed at the sight of the two young trolls.

“Gamzee.” Sollux almost sighed.

“Yeah man?” Gamzee retorted. 

“Its a horror-terror.” Sollux's arm dropped to his sides. “I told you you should have stayed quiet you clown faced douche.” Almost as he finished his sentence Sollux spun, grabbed Gamzee by the collar of his shirt and dashed down the hallway behind them. 

The horror-terror shrieked horrifically and gave chase to the two its body slithering nightmarish-ly through the door at a rather amazing pace. The terror swung its scythe like arms around in the cramped space smashing into walls and breaking doors off of their hinges.

Sollux and Gamzee sprinted quickly down the hall leaping over even more abandoned wheelchairs, beds, and the occasional skeleton. 

“This is one hell of a motherfuckin' abscond!” Gamzee shouted over the shrieks of the horror-terror. “I don't think we can out run this motherfucker for much longer!” 

“No we can't.” Sollux thought to himself. He twisted his body halfway as he sprinted and aimed sloppily at the horror-terror. Quickly he pulled the triggers and his pistols thumped loudly with each shot. Each round imbedded into the rather large body of the horror-terror. None of the shots seemed to leave an effect and only angered the monster. “Fuck!” Sollux shouted and faced forward in time to duck under a hanging water pipe. 

Sollux panted with each step that pounded into the rotting ground. He was getting tired and his heart began to burn. One of the horror-terror's scythes slashed a few centimeters behind him and crashed into the wall. There was a loud screech of grinding metal and the terror roared. Sollux turned to find its claw was imbedded into the wall, and with each yank the terror howled in pain. 

“Its stuck!” Sollux shouted to Gamzee who was already several yards down the hall and about to turn a corner. 

The terror shrieked louder in pain and black oozing blood poured from the claw. Now that it was still Sollux could see the monster in full form. It was large and a disgusting shade of white similar to that of a deceased persons. Its head wasn't as serpentine as he first thought, but had several nobs and bones poking up in the skin. The eyes where a sharp crimson with no pupils. It was about twenty feet long and several feet wide.

“That is one mother fuckin' ugly snake.” Gamzee huffed as he re-approached Sollux. Gamzee put his hands on his knees and panted. 

The horror-terror roared and with a final yank freed its arm. Panic rose in Sollux's throat until a moment later the ceiling caved in on top of the terror. A large water pipe fell and stabbed through the torso of the terror. It slammed into the ground and seemed to cough up more black blood before it stopped breathing. 

“We...” Sollux heaved, “We are lucky as hell. Come on Gamzee, Karkat is obviously not here.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introduction of Dirk, as well as, Terezi, Vriska, and Eridan (Although not introduced as thoroughly as Dirk.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyo! sorry for the long chapter this time round, and that the grammar is god aweful. My friend who nit picks my writing is out of the country and busy so I'm going out on a whim here and uploading this with no edits cause I can't tell when my grammar is god awful or not.

Deep under the wasted, dried up earth Dirk worked away cleaning his bulky and dented power armor. His room was a small concrete room large enough for a cot and a stand to hold his armor. The room was part of a large underground facility called a Vault. The vault used to house many people who needed shelter against the nuclear fallout, but in the years following the war the Vault opened and a faction based off of the old United States government called the Enclave who prided themselves on technology moved in. The Enclave encountered Dirk off of the coast of Texas and when presented with Dirk's vast skill in technology and robotics they recruited them as one of their own. He rose through the ranks from raw recruit to a basic foot soldier in almost days. 

The Enclave housed Dirk, fed him and kept him healthy. They cut and cleaned his hair and replaced his black tank-top and jeans with powerful power armor that amplified his strength and speed. Slowly he managed to modify his power armor with a brand new AI system he named HAL. HAL was slowly coded in an old terminal when Dirk was bored and had down time, but eventually when he got his hands on a neural implant Dirk made the impossible, possible and copied the pathways in his brain and input the coding from the terminal. 

Boot steps rang down the hall and stopped outside Dirk's room. The electronic door hissed and slid open. A tall man stood in the doorway wearing power armor up to his head. The man was shaved to the skin with pale gray eyes and a little stubble on his stern jaw. He looked to be about middle age and had a jagged scar across his left cheek. 

“Hey boot.” The man said roughly to Dirk. 

“Yeah sarge?” Dirk looked up from the chest plate of the power armor and to the commanding officer. 

“We got an assignment. A mutant tribe holed up in a hotel is attacking Ranger caravans.” Sarge grunted.

Dirk looked at Sarge and raised an eyebrow. “Why not let the local mercs handle it? Why us? Super mutants aren't that much of a problem out here in Texas.”

“They're not our typical mutants. Some new breed. Scribes want us to investigate and eliminate.” Sarge reported bluntly.

Dirk nodded silently and watched as Sarge turned and marched out of the doorway. In a few moments Dirk stood and began to put on his armor strapping on each piece slowly and methodically. When he got all the armor on Dirk left the room and made his way to the quarter master. Dirk silently handed over a small chip and retrieved a plump looking plasma rifle and several battery looking charges. 

Dirk clumped down the halls of the Vault and to the door where he met up with Sarge and two other Enclave members. The huge Vault door hissed loudly and slid forward with a loud grinding noise. The massive door, with the numbers 4-1-3 rolled to the side and sunlight revealed a tunnel that lead to the outside world. The group of Enclave strolled outside to the sound of a Verti-bird, a vertical landing aircraft that was used to transport and drop off squads of Enclave soldiers. 

Dirk and the other Enclave members piled into the Verti-berd and seated themselves along the walls. The pilot rang off about safety procedures and slowly the aircraft began to rise up into the air. The engines of the vehicle hummed as it lurched forward and off towards its destination. Dirk slowly slid his helmet on over his head and the HUD system booted up and a green cross-hair flicked into Dirk's vision. 

“Welcome back.” A voice spoke into Dirk's ears. “Bout time you booted me up. What's the mission today Dagger boy?” 

“We have a group of unknown mutants attacking Ranger caravans.” Dirk whispered quietly. “Ill need you to operate the helmet mounted camera while we engage.”

“Record the ass kicking for further review huh?” HAL responded sarcastically.

“No. Its for the higher-ups.” Dirk sighed in frustration. Working for the Enclave forced Dirk to grow up from his childish, ironic senses of humor. HAL on the other hand never stepped out of the sarcasm. 

For several minutes Dirk sat in silence listening to the low hum of the verti-birds engine. The red light that illuminated the cabin of the air-craft turned green and the pilot switched on the radio and announcing imminent touchdown. There was a sudden lurch downward as the craft began to land. The vehicle touched down without incident and the door at the end of the cabin opened to the outside world. The Enclave soldiers rushed outside and positioned themselves around the verti-bird securing the landing zone. Their transport arose from the ground and flew back towards Vault 413 in quick haste. Dirk scanned his surroundings and saw they had landed out front of a large hotel building that was aside of a large, crumbled road.

“This the place?” Dirk called out to the squads communication, or COM system. 

“Yeah this is it. Rangers take their caravans down this road between Fort Augustine and Austin.” Sarge called back, his voice not sounding as gruff on the electronic waves. 

Confident that the outside of the hotel was secure of any sort of ambush the Enclave soldiers slowly approached the hotel's doors which barely hung onto its hinges. Sarge and one of the Enclave stood on one side of the door with Dirk and the remaining soldier standing on the other.

“Standard breach and clear.” Sarge ordered. 

Dirk nodded silently and pulled a frag grenade from the belt that clung to his power armor. He pulled the pin, shoved one of the hotel doors off of hits hinge and hurled the explosive into the room. There was an audible gasp of surprise from the room before the grenade thumped and blew the remaining door several feet away. Dirk swung around the side of the door and brought his plasma rifle to aim and scanned the room. An orange substance sprayed across the walls and several bodies were blown up against the edges of the room. Several wooden tables that were put up for cover were shattered in the explosion. There was a blip on Dirk's motion tracker and he pivoted to his side. 

In the corridor of a branching hallway stood a silhouette. It had a human like body with two large horns resembling that of a goat coming off the sides of its head. The contact stepped into the light brandishing a shotgun with a drum mag attached to its wooden body. They had gray skin with black hair and lips and orange eyes. 

Dirk looked the mutant right into their eyes and both hesitated for a moment. The mutant wore a tattered leather jacket and black pants. There was no undershirt to be seen and pale gray skin shone in the sunlight. Their eyes glowed with anger and their mouth twisted into a wicked snarl revealing sharp fangs. 

“Sir.” Dirk clicked into the com. “It looks almost human...”

“It doesn't matter, it isn't pureblood. Kill it.” Sarge ordered.

Dirk didn't hesitate a second longer and opened fire. The plasma rifle hissed and sent several large green blobs of energy smashing into the chest of the mutant boiling the skin. The mutant shrieked in pain and fell backwards without even firing a shot, their body slamming into the cracked ground. 

“Good job.” Sarge grunted, “now examine the bodies.”  
The Enclave soldiers spread out around the room and stripped the corpses of weapons and explosives. Each mutant had the same gray skin, black lips, and orange eyes. The horns were different with each mutant but all where the same candy corn color pattern. Each bled an orange color. 

“Fan out and search the building.” Sarge ordered as he started for a corridor, “Make sure none of these muties survive. If worse comes to worse bring the building down.” He ordered as he marched off with his plasma rifle hanging over his shoulder.

Dirk sighed and reloaded his own rifle and started down a separate corridor. Most of the rooms were empty or caved in, one had several beds in it, and another was stocked with stolen supplies. There were no other mutants inside of the hotel and Dirk sighed in relief. The squad regrouped outside the hotel and sat in a circle as Sarge sent a signal for pick up. The operation took no less than an hour and already the mutants were killed, cataloged, and in need of pickup for immediate study. Soon the verti-bird returned to the landing zone and the soldiers loaded into the vehicle for the return home. 

As the verti-bird flew Dirk reviewed the footage from his helmet cam. It was grainy quality but there was enough to make out the visible anatomy of the new mutant species. They were very similar to humans which shouldn't really be a surprise since most of the mutants they fought came from humans but they were all so grotesque that this change was pleasant. The new mutants seemed far more sentient than the rest that Dirk had fought. 

Dirk sighed and clicked off the footage. He rested his head against the bulk of the airship and drifted off into a small slumber. He was sleeping peacefully for several long moments until the pilot shouted over the radio about an incoming missile. Dirk shot up from his nap in a panic, but before he could react the side of the Verdi-bird shook violently. An explosion roared over Dirk's ears as he grasped the sides of his seat. The Verti-bird began to spin quickly as it fell to the wasteland below and slammed violently into the ground.

Dirk slowly came to consciousness with his head spinning. His helmet had been stripped off and cast aside. Behind him was the burning wreckage of the verti-bird and all of the other Enclave's bodies. Several mutants surrounded Dirk, one of whom was carrying a smoking missile launcher. The mutant was obviously female and wore bright red sunglasses. She had on a simple black shirt with the zodiac sign of Libra. Dirk rolled onto his back and look at the other two mutants. One was another female with long black hair. She wore circular glasses, a tattered black tee with the sign of Scorpio. Dirk groaned as pain lurched up his body.

“Don't bother moving blondie, just cause I'm blind doesn't mean I can't kill you right here.” The mutant with the Libra tee smirked. 

“You'll be coming with us.” Scorpio said and leaned over Dirk. Her right pupil was surrounded by seven smaller pupils and her horns vaguely resembled a pincer and stinger. 

The third mutant knelt down by Dirk and smirked. This mutant was male and had short black hair with a purple streak in the front. He wore a scarf wrapped around his face revealing only his eyes. On his shirt was the symbol of Aquarius. Strapped across his back was a large Tesla cannon, probably stolen from The Enclave.

“Do as the land glubbers say and maybe you wont get hurt. Not yet anyhow.” The mutant spoke, his voice sounded as if he carried himself with nobility, and as if he double pronounced his W's.  
Dirk could only moan in pain before his vision began to fade and he lapsed back into unconsciousness. 

Dirk awoke with a start. Light shined brightly on his face with a warm, familiar glow. The blurs in his vision faded and Dirk found himself in his room laying on a messy bed staring up at a ceiling fan spinning slowly in a pathetic attempt to keep the bedroom cool on a hot Texas day. Dirk slowly rose from bed and rubbed the sides of his head, whatever happened in his dream made his whole body sore. He dreamt of an apocalypse, a nuclear holocaust that ended with all of his friends dead and him joining a genocide fed faction of soldiers in order to survive. He dreamed of horrible creatures attacking him at every angle and him fighting to survive until he came across a new race. He dreamed of nearly dying at the hands of these new creatures.

None of this mattered to Dirk now. He awoke from the nightmare and decided it was time to eat. Dirk swung his legs over the side of the bed and got up with a stretch. He left the bed messy and walked out of the bedroom and into the living room of the apartment. Posters hung on the walls from the successful movie that his older brother produced and filmed about his web comic. Dirk stumbled into the kitchen that was connected to the living room and opened the fridge. He pulled a two liter of soda and some left over pizza from the night before from the refrigerator and walked back out to the couch and sat down. Dirk flipped on the television, kicked his feet up on a coffee table in front of him and began to eat.

The channel the TV was already on was the world news. A reporter spoke almost in a panic about tensions between nations and how war must be inevitable. None of this was any concern to Dirk. He lived in the USA, no nation would dare go to war with them. 

Suddenly the door to the apartment swung open and slammed into the wall behind it. Dirk's brother came rushing into apartment and slammed the door behind him. “Get your things.” He commanded bluntly. Dirk looked at his brother and worry stuck in his throat. Dirk's brother was beaten and bruised, his blonde hair disheveled and his black suit was torn and ripped and covered in dark splotches of what could only be blood. 

“Dirk quit staring at me and get you're things. We don't have a lot of time.” His brother commanded again.

Dirk nodded silently and rushed to his room. He quickly grabbed a back pack, stuffed some clothes into it, grabbed his katana and quickly left. His brother already packed a large bag with food and water and before Dirk could ask what was going on they both rushed out of the apartment and started heading down towards the basement.

“I figured the world would come to this.” Dirk's brother sighed. “Listen, I followed the news for a while first out of curiosity, you know to see if I was in it at all. Soon all they began to report was how each nation was getting more and more sketchy with one another. When China invaded Alaska I knew this would happen eventually so I took some money out of our savings and had a bunker built under the complex. We need to get there now before things go to hell.”

“Bro what the hell happened to you!” Dirk responded in a panic, “You're covered in blood!”

“I was out buying some food when a group of guys attacked me for a package of bottled water. I came back as soon as I finished those fools off.” Dirk's brother responded.   
The two ran silently down the stairs until they hit the door to the basement. The door was hanging on a hinge that led into a hallway with a single flicking light.

“Fuck.” Dirk's brother mumbled, “Someone got down here.” From his side Dirk's brother slowly pulled his katana, something he bought and learned to use as a hobby, from his waist and gripped it cautiously. From behind the two of them there was the click of a firearm. Dirk and his brother whirled around to see one of their neighbors pointing a large revolver at the two of them.

“Get me into you're bunker Strider.” The man growled, his eyes were glazed over and the smell of alcohol punctuated the air. His hair was greasy and unkempt, as were his clothes. 

“There's only enough supplies for my bro and I.” Dirk's brother responded. 

Dirk stared at the two in a panic, his breathing began to heavy and a nauseous feeling rose in his stomach. 

“If you don't let me in there Strider I will shoot you're little brother, and then I will shoot you.” The neighbor stammered and took a half step forward. He swayed from side to side but kept the revolver aimed at Dirk and his brother.

Dirk's brother stepped in front of Dirk protectively and raised his blade, the tip hardly touching the throat of the drunk neighbor. “No.” Dirk's brother said coolly.

The drunk neighbor sighed and his head lurched for a moment, “It could have been easier Strider.” The revolver boomed and Dirk's brother cried out. Both he, and the drunk neighbor fell on the ground bleeding. The shot punctured his brother's lung, and at the same time the neighbor shot, Dirk's brother rammed his sword through his neck.

Dirk's brother gurgled and motioned for Dirk to come close. “Listen.” He wheezed, “The code for the bunker door is 4-1-3. I want you to get in there and wait for this shit to be over with.”

Tears filled Dirk's eyes as he stared down at his brother. “Get up bro you can come with.” Dirk stammered.

“I don't think I'm going to be making this ride Lil' man.” His brother smirked, and with a shaking hand pulled off his cracked sunglasses. Dirk's brother stared at him with bright crimson eyes as he gripped Dirk's hand. “Go Lil' man. You gotta make it.” He breathed, and after a few long seconds his hand fell limp and the shine in his red eyes faded.

Dirk awoke again in a panicked sweat. He was stripped of his power armor and thrown into a dirt cell. His body was covered in bruises and cuts from the crashed Verti-bird. In the cell was a single, dirty mat that Dirk was laying on, and a bucket. 

Dirk sat up and rubbed his eyes to help clear the fog that hug on his mind. The dream of when his brother was killed, and him making it to the underground bunker had resurfaced after months of being dormant. 

“You're awake blondie.” The mutant with the Libra tee was standing outside of his cell. She still wore the bright red glasses. “You smell awful even with the bath that we had to give you.” She said, and crouched in front of the bars. “You and you're armor wearing beetles were killing our kind. We had no choice but to bring you down.” She smiled wickedly, “For someone wearing bad-ass power armor you sure were easy to take down. A single missile really. All I had to do was listen for the hum of the ship, and the direction and boom.” The mutant mimicked the sound of an explosion and laughed. “Vriska is going to want to talk to you. She was the one with the eight pupils.”

“And just who are you?” Dirk groaned.

“Why should I tell you my name?” The mutant made a mocked look of offense and laughed again. 

“I'm probably going to die here, wherever I am. I'd like to know the one who brought me down.” Dirk coughed, spraying a slight amount of blood on the ground beneath him.

“Well that seems fair.” The mutant stood and put her hands on her hips. “My name is Terezi. Terezi Pyrope.” Terezi smiled proudly as she told her name. “Now blondie it only seems fair you tell me who you are.”

Dirk looked at Terezi and couldn't help but smile, though he knew not why. “Dirk. Dirk Strider.” Dirk said calmly, “A pleasure to meet you Terezi.” 

Terezi's smile vanished and she tilted her head confused, “Did you say Strider?” She asked.

“Yeah. Strider.” Dirk replied.

Terezi nodded slowly and quickly left the cell murmuring about needing to talk to Karkat quickly.

Dirk sighed and rested his head against the dirt wall behind him. Hopefully the rest of the Enclave would track the crashed verti-bird and would notice his body was missing from the rest of the squad. He hoped the group that saved him would come and do it again.


End file.
